You're Not Invincible
by Karai III
Summary: Alex is concluding a long winding undercover mission when something unexpected comes up. A series of close calls teach him a lesson he shouldn't soon forget,but that lesson may be a little too late to be put to any use.


**You're Not Invincible**

**Written for the 2010 Spyfest Enjoy!**

**Recipient: ****arithilim**** & ****annephoenix**

**Characters/Pairing(s):** Alex, Wolf, Yassen, Ben, Eagle in mention  
**Summary:** Alex is concluding a long winding undercover mission when something unexpected comes up. A series of close calls teach him a lesson that he shouldn't soon forget, but that lesson may be a little too late to be put to any use.  
**Rating:** M  
**Disclaimer:** All Alex Rider characters herein are the property of Anthony Horowitz and the Penguin Group. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Warning(s): **None  
**Word Count:** ~6,000

"Why exactly are you so adamant to go?"

Alex looped his boot lace around its last metal hook and tied it firmly. He shoved his pants legs down over his boots as well before glancing up at the man from his spot on the edge of the bed.

"I have my reasons," Alex answered curtly, moving past the man to snatch his semi-automatic from the desktop behind him.

Yassen regarded him with slight amusement as Alex shoved the loaded weapon into a shoulder holster and hauled on his jacket.

"It's the gun?" he asked snidely "It makes you feel empowered doesn't it?"

Alex didn't answer. Instead he grabbed a knapsack from under the bed and checked inside for something, his manner was urgent.

"And what do you plan to tell everyone else when they catch you? Surely you don't imagine you can blend in with the other men?"

"I won't get caught," Alex snapped. He searched around, yanking open the drawers to Yassen's desk before finally finding the weapon he was looking for. He stuffed the switchblade into his pocket and zipped it closed casting an indignant glance at Yassen as he did.

He wished Yassen would simply shut up and leave like everyone else had. The man was perfectly calm and annoyingly confident as he strode over to the writing desk in the large room they shared in the expansive underground facility and picked up a small black case.

Throughout the year that Alex had been on the secluded island of Bitra investigating, Yassen had been nothing but a thorn in his side and a source of constant apprehension; an unnerving distraction from his main goal.

Now that the building was under a surprise attack, an attack that only Alex was supposed to know about, Yassen was ready to up and leave; perfectly prepared as though the arrival of the SAS hadn't been a surprise at all.

"So confident, even in the face of uneven odds. Your father was the same way," Yassen remarked following Alex to the door. It was a quality I greatly admired in him."

Alex whirled around to tell him off for stepping into personal territory but then he noticed the tiny black suitcase in Yassen's left hand for the first time and his retort died on his lips.

"You've stolen them," he accused

"You look so surprised Alex. You didn't think I was going to join you on your deluded display of gallantry did you?" Yassen reached past Alex for the keypad of the door and punched in his code. The door slid open with a quiet hiss.

"You're running off with the world's most well disguised bombs without a second thought for your men out there and you're suggesting that I follow your example."

"Only some of them; we shared them up," Yassen corrected him

Alex silently fumed, not sure what to do now. He had only just found out that the bombs were this easy to disguise and now Yassen was telling him that when the SAS stormed the place, there would be nothing left to find.

Yassen looked down at him coolly. "You will ultimately do what you want Alex, there's no doubt about that. If you feel that your abilities qualify you for that kind of battle go ahead. But I don't see why I should risk my life to live up to your false expectations when in fact I don't care about them."

He paused for a moment listening to the sounds of the gun battle on the soppy grounds of the compound above.

"Besides, last time I checked 'my men' were winning."

He stepped past Alex and out the door headed to a hidden chopper in the belly of the cargo hold.

Alex refused to be deterred or let Yassen know how the news affected him. "Your over confidence is infectious Yassen; somehow I still feel like we're winning."

Yassen stopped walking but did not turn around. "You were never winning Alex."

"As soon as what I know reaches Special Ops, you lose." Alex completely ignored his last statement

Yassen still didn't turn. "That is only partially true Alex; you're not invincible you know."

Alex did not answer. But Yassen finally turned around and looked him in the eye with a strange expression "You think yourself so clever Alex, exploiting what hope to be my mistakes to stay two steps ahead, but the truth is you haven't been surviving here this long because of your own skills at all. You're too young and naive for that."

"Am I supposed to feel overwhelmingly grateful to you now?" Alex scoffed "Because for some reason I don't."

"Not at all, Alex. What I want you to do, is keep in mind that you're never too young to die or too good lose your usefulness. I suggest you do yourself a favour and stay out of the rain today; I can't guarantee you'll live through it." He turned and continued his leisurely pace down the now dimly lit hallway.

"Usefulness to whom?" Alex demanded but Yassen completely ignored him and continued.

Alex knew that what Yassen said was true to some degree and arguing with him any further would just be a waste of time. There probably was something that Yassen knew that he was not letting on but Alex knew better than to stick around to ultimately not find out anything more from the man.  
His time would be better spent helping the soldiers and passing on the information that MI6 needed to stop the distribution of the bombs before it was too late.

Alex surveyed the field from his vantage point behind one of the numerous generators that ensured never failing electricity to the building on the tiny island. He was glad to see that Yassen's assumptions false; although the SAS were not winning, neither were the mercenaries he intended to sabotage.

He stayed where he was for a moment gathering up the nerve to get moving, he tried to shake the feeling of dread but Yassen's word affected him despite himself.

Fortunately all the rest of the staff had either left or been killed and those who had finally suspected him of espionage had realised too late and had now decided it better to leave with their lives -and apparently their jewels- rather than to exact revenge just yet. Alex tried to tell himself that he had nothing to fear since the original people who wanted him dead were gone. But what really bothered him was the fact that he couldn't understand why Yassen kept saving him. It could just be out of sentiments for his dead father.

Alex suddenly rammed the confusing thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on his situation. At the moment he still couldn't send any communications electronically because of the high interference lethal electric fence. And the torrential rain was making matters significantly worse. Many of the SAS men would have been fried had it not been for the diligent observations of their Captain. who had devised a strategy to efficiently avoid the obstacle and still fight in the tiny courtyard.

Alex knew that the small company of men had been fatally outnumbered at first, and he found himself admiring their strategy and perseverance so far. The short history of this particular place depicted it as impenetrable and lethal to every military scouting assignment that had ventured to breach it.

Yet this group was holding their own admirably, and Alex intended to help even the odds.

He crept out from behind his shield cautiously. The battle being fought in such close quarters meant that there was an unusual amount of hand to hand combat involved for fear of shooting one's own men. Alex had the same problem now. But he was determined to find a way around it. He wasn't stupid enough to help them fight that way but maybe if he got a little creative, things could work out.

He stood up careful to remain hidden and searched for the power supply he knew was hidden nearby. He'd during his numerous trips as the water delivery guy that the fence was fuelled by a reliable outdoor power source. If he could incapacitate the high voltage enclosure then the SAS soldiers would not find themselves so confined. The enemy had obviously been trained to accommodate the fence but the others had not come prepared for such an obstacle. Then he could take out the other men from a distance without hurt his comrades.

Alex eyed the narrow dirt path behind him that lead to the rear of the building and the small utility quarters beyond. He knew that even the quit technician who'd managed most every machine in the building had been in on the dastardly idea the whole time. He'd had to have been he was too involved not to be or else he was killed. Either way Alex was glad that the man wasn't here to stop him now because Alex suddenly remembered exactly where the power source was.

Using the trees that lined the path-shielding it from the steep hill side-Alex climbed the 20 feet to the roof of the separate utility building. It was cleverly shingled with photo electric cells whose sole purpose was to provide power to the compounds electrifying fortifications. He explored a bit searching for the connection carrying the stored power to the fence.

It took him an agonizing seven minutes to find and break the connections, minutes in which one other soldier had died taking the toll up to four.

Alex was surprised at how quickly the soldiers responded to the change the instant it was deactivated Alex heard an order being given for the soldiers to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the enemy as possible so they could engage in ranged combat. And this is precisely what Alex had needed. Now came the most dangerous part.

He came down again after surveying the scene again and using the secrecy of one of the sprawling palms nearby he changed into the same nondescript black fatigues that the enemy men were wearing obviously not for camouflage reasons but they did a very good job of keeping out the exasperating rain.

When Alex was sure that he had completely transformed he drew his weapon from its resting place and checked that his second magazine was in easy reach. He paused for a moment to swallow his fear but the strangled cry that suddenly pierced the air like the last fallen man's did a better job of mobilizing him. He wasn't sure whose side had lost another man but he decided that if it was an SAS man Alex was going to make sure he was the last.

Taking a deep breath he repositioned the heavy Kevlar vest over his vulnerable chest so he could still perform under its weight and crept out into the open just far enough to take careful aim. He was able to downed three men with a shot to the leg each before he was noticed.

But as he was about to shoot again things got confusing as the men suddenly mingled again. This time as though the mercenaries were against a lethal wire fence and they were quickly growing impatient.

Yassen's words echoed in his mind as he took off to another position on the far side of the building to shoot again hoping that the men would not catch and kill him. A few particularly peeved men had come after him.

He doubled back to the spot where he had climbed up to the utility roof but before attempting to climb it he turned to shoot the three men coming towards him. Strangely his heart was hammering in his ears the adrenaline rush was beginning to go overboard. His sudden terror was draining him. One of them beat him to the punch taking aim about to level him but he was stilled by a hiss from one of the other men and before Alex could shoot the same man who had ordered the other to stop was yanking him off of his perch. Alex twisted around in his grasp and managed to free himself of the man's hold and lashed out with an elbow to catch him in the ribs but he was caught by surprise when the man grab his arm and twisted it around then forced him to the ground. He followed through with a knee pressed into his back and Alex was effectively pinned.

"What the hell are you doing!" the man demanded in a voice that Alex recognized.

Alex, startled by this piece of information, strained his neck around to get a proper view of the man he believed to be Ben Daniels but just as his assumption was confirmed he was roughly punched to the ground again. His jaw smarted from the hard blow.

"I said, what the hell are you doing shooting your own men?"

The blow surprised Alex more than seeing Ben himself. It hadn't really felt staged at all. Alex wasn't aware of Ben being assigned to the same mission and the silly idea that he had actually assumed wrongly sprung to mid. But then again that might have been a deliberate act on the part of MI6 and Ben was not going to jeopardize the mission without good cause by any stretch of the imagination.

Alex tried pushing himself from the ground but Ben harshly pushed him back down again.

"Don't try my patience kid," he hissed. "Why are you out here?"

"We don't have all day to haggle Roy shoot him and be done with it," the other men fussed, looking back at the courtyard anxiously and Alex's previous fear returned despite knowing Ben was the one holding him down.

"I need to know," Ben snapped

Alex felt the mud squishing against his cheek, nearly in his mouth and annoyance masked his fear. He tried getting up again.

"If you let me up I'll be able to talk."

Alex was actually surprised when Ben listened and lifted him from the ground, he indignantly wiped the glob of earth from his cheek as soon as his arm was free but then he suddenly found himself lying on the ground again on his back with Ben glaring down at him looking extremely pissed. A look that as far as Alex was concerned looked frighteningly genuine.

The man pulled him up and pushed him against the utility building wall coming close up to his face.

"I am not in the mood for any of your lip, _Cub,_" Ben growled. The last word was nearly a whisper and although Ben's tone of voice as he said it suggested that he was beyond annoyed, Alex took a slight comfort in Ben having shown some sign of recognizing him.

But Alex truly didn't know what to answer; he hadn't planned on getting caught least of all by another undercover agent.

Had he been dealing with the true enemy he would have simply given them a smart remark or two and fought like hell to get the best of them.

But now as Alex rapidly contemplated a way to get himself safely out of this situation, he realized that that was exactly what he'd have to do and hope that Ben followed through.

He suddenly sneered at Ben and said: "Somehow, I don't think telling you would be a smart idea"

He hooked Ben in the ribs causing him to loosen his grip slightly and quietly hoped that the man would forgive him later. Just as Ben caught the other hand that was at his chest, Alex was dismayed to find that the other two men had rushed forward to help Ben overcome him. But Alex had also underestimated Ben again. Without warning the man had used Alex's own momentum against him to turn him around twisting his hand behind his back again. Then he pulled Alex up against him and grabbed him in a headlock. He reached down and took Alex's gun from the holster where he had replaced it and used it to disarm the men.

"Son of a bitch! You're with him!"

One of the men reached for his gun again but Ben shot his hand directly. Alex knocked him out with an elbow to his temple while he grabbed his mutilated hand as Ben shot the second man in his calf so he could overtake him rendered him unconscious as well.

Then he turned to Alex with a thunderous expression.

"Now, I'm asking you again and I expect an answer," he growled quietly. "What the hell are you doing out here #$% up everything that we're doing?"

Alex realised now just how close Ben had come to being shot. Everything he had been doing would have unravelled at the ends had happened to target him. But he had his reasons for having disobeying orders.

"First off, when Yassen mentioned that the mercenaries were winning I had to help, I knew where the-."

Ben cut in, getting into his face again. "Why the hell do you think we give you instructions? So you can muck things up and get everybody killed in the process? Every soldier out there knows not to shoot me, what to look for. Except you. You could've gotten yourself killed not to along with me. That's why we told you to get on the fucking chopper once the SAS landed."

Alex was silent for a moment, apologetic, yet not regretting what he'd done.

"I see that now," he acknowledged, "but I'm not the only one in ignorant bliss here. Things are worse than you think."

Ben's glare deepened "How so?"

"Yassen left with some of the bombs for personal use in a case the size of a standard notebook," Alex informed him. He noticed Ben pale slightly. "What's more-"

_"Some?"_ Ben interrupted in disbelief

"They're chunks of rock Ben, dressed up as fifty-carat diamonds."

Ben stared.

"And that's what they're going to look like when they blow up around someone's neck. The biggest thing is that most everyone left with whole batch of them since they're so portable."

Ben swore furiously. "When did you find this out?"

"About 30 minutes ago. But I've already sent MI6 the coordinates of the different targets."

Ben nodded, not quite so mad with Alex now that he'd learned this. "You should have went straight to the Major if you couldn't contact SIS. He needs to know to pull back the men if there's nothing here," he said grimly, taking out his communicator.

He barked something short and terse into and then turned back to Alex. "You'll recognize him when you see him. He's waiting for you at the first bend in the fence. He'll take it over from there. As soon as you tell him what you told me change out of that stuff and head to the shore; someone will get you from there." Ben looked completely thrown by Alex's news and faintly out of place as he sent him away. Everything had just become that much worse. "Oh and Alex." He paused, looking at Alex critically, waiting until he had his full attention. "You need to get rid of this I'm-indestructible attitude okay."

"Who said anything about indestructible, Ben, I'm just trying to get the job-" Alex quipped but Fox cut him off

"Just shut up and listen Alex. You keep throwing yourself in harm's way for these dumb-ass reasons and it's not funny or cool. When you took down those three men I turned to shoot you where you stood no second thoughts, be done with it you know." He looked Alex in the eye, grimly having his undivided attention. "It was pretty easy to mistake you for a fool gone trigger happy on his own men you know? Only your size stopped me Alex; 20 more pounds and you'd probably be dead."

Alex realized what really had ticked the man off so much.

"Stop messing around before you mess up for good."

Alex nodding understanding the gravity of what Fox was telling him.

"Now hurry."

Alex took off across the soggy field acutely aware of the fact that Yassen was right.

He was surprised to find that he did actually recognize the Captain of the small company of men fighting to grab control of the place not knowing that they'd find nothing there. But then he realized that perhaps he should not have been surprised at all. Wolf had shown the ability to perform under the harshest circumstances over the years and he was a brilliant leader. No doubt he had earned the title.

As soon as Alex informed him of the futility of what he had his men doing, Wolf started giving out orders with an urgency that surprised even Alex who knew the true extent of the problem and when he spoke things got done.

"You need to leave here now. You've done what you can," Wolf suddenly told him with a dark look on his face. His eyes darted from side to side taking in everything at once. He was rapidly conjuring and subsequently discarding numerous plans. Trying to wiggle out of a tight spot.

Alex acknowledged him but did not move, he didn't really see how he could be safer anywhere else right now. He stood very close so as not to be confused with one of the mercenaries but he soon realized that they were retreating as well, rapidly abandoning their weapons and heading anywhere but the building and the center of the field in what seemed like a mad scramble for safety. One of them spoke into a communicator and glanced up at the sky before taking off as well.

Alex suddenly needed to know where Ben was but Wolf didn't even seem to hear his question.

He seemed to have made the same observations at the same moment as Alex but they meant something completely different for him and as the realization of what was about to happen hit him the blood drained from his face.

"RETREAT NOW!"

Alex was startled by the volume of Wolf's voice. It carried strongly across the small field and every man out in it took heed to the urgency in his voice. Many of the other men were still scrambling for safety when a helicopter flew over without stopping.

Alex was only able to catch a glimpse of something glint in the air, falling fast, and a long shrill whistle before Wolf pushed him to the ground and fell across him to shield him from the massive explosion that followed immediately after.

After the deafening bang, Alex thought that he must have gone deaf. He was acutely aware of a claustrophobic silence all around him even as he felt the pressure of Wolf's body leave his and as he flew through the air. He had to close his eyes against the whirling images sure he would crumble on impact with the ground; he was moving so fast. A moment later he hit the ground with such force that it felt as though all of his bones had been jarred from their places and he found that he couldn't get up let alone move but he was still conscious. It was not until what sounded like Wolf's body hitting the ground as well, jolting him out of his trance, that the pain registered.

He opened his eyes and looked around, his head pounding terribly from striking the ground. As he made painful attempt to sit up, he realized that his impact with the ground had apparently cracked a couple of his ribs judging from the hot ache on the left side of his abdomen and his left leg was badly twisted. He carefully turned trying to find Wolf while noticing that most of the other men were pulling themselves together as well. It seemed as though most everyone had survived the explosion.

Then he noticed Wolf lying a few yards away and his position made Alex's heart clench for a moment assuming the worst. The man was lying mostly on his back, with his eyes closed. But it was the way his head lolled to one side at a seemingly unnaturally angle that frightened Alex most. The first thought that came to his mind was that his neck had snapped.

Alex found the strength to get up as quickly as his injuries would allow and crawled over to Wolf's side. A few other men were already there by the time Alex knelt down beside him one of whom was Ben.

Alex realized with a thrill of relief that Wolf's odd looking position was due to the fact that he had fallen on his shoulder badly, so it gave the impression that his neck was in an odd position but it definitely wasn't broken

"Wolf!" Alex tried to shake him awake. "Wolf! Wake up!"

Wolf groaned loudly in protest and Ben had to move Alex back to give him some space.

"How did you escape the explosion?" Alex asked, noticing Ben now.

"He warned me a few seconds before it happened and the building pretty much shielded me," Ben answered, watching as the medic team checked over the worst of everyone's injuries quickly making their way towards Wolf and Alex. A few other loyal men with concern for their captain came stumbling over as well.

Alex glanced back at the two story compound. Most of it was below ground but what wasn't had been severely damaged. The fence also had been completely obliterated by the blast from the tiny bomb. Many of the men had been thrown clean through it.

"This kind of explosive is going to be devastating in a city," Alex observed with melancholy. "It doesn't really give off that much heat but the shock-waves will have houses crumbling around everyone in an instant."

Ben nodded quietly. "We have to find them before that happens." Then: "You did a good job though Cub." He glanced out to the shore where a few friendly choppers could be seen in the distance quickly approaching. "At least we'll know what we're looking for." He looked over at Wolf. "You're good at what you do you know, I just wish you'd find a more self preservative way to do it, you understand what I'm saying? Stay out of the middle of things where you don't belong."

"Yeah, I think I do," Alex said sincerely. He head back over to Wolf who was conscious and grumbling.

"You saved my life."

Wolf grunted in reply brushing it off.

"Are you okay?" Alex tried again

"I would be if these people would leave me alone," Wolf groaned. "I'm sure some of the other men need the help more than me." Alex knew that Wolf was just trying to be tough. His shoulder was badly twisted and there were multiple lacerations across his face that gave him a battered tired look. But something about his expression made Alex sure that he wasn't as well as he was claiming to be.

"What's the matter, don't you know-" Alex began, but Wolf cut him off, suddenly angry

"It doesn't matter," he snapped. After a moment he said: "I know you had something to tell us Cub; something important, but sticking yourself in harm's way like that all day, it's not smart man; I'm getting sick and tired of seeing you do that, literally." He seemed miserable

"How many times am I going to hear this conversation today? I get what you guys are saying, I'm not Superman; I get it."

"No you don't get it," Wolf argued shifting painfully. Alex noticed that Fox was listening attentively.

"You don't get to understand until you see the consequences of it."

Alex looked confused.

"Being over confident only gets you killed," Wolf sighed. "Young people never seem to understand that."

Alex felt a sudden sinking feeling in his gut at the sad expression on both Ben and Wolf's faces at some memory the two of them shared

"Who died?" he asked simply, curious yet dreading to know .

Wolf was quiet for a moment surveying the damaged landscape around him in that fashion that Alex realized was the way he noticed and comprehended everything at once, something he seemed to be particularly good at. Eventually he looked at Fox and recalled the event in a low angry voice

"Last year a few months after the Scorpia bullshit you were mixed up in, we were in uncharted territory while chasing an enemy Typhoon fighter." He glanced over Alex's head noticing something that the rest of them did not see but he made no mention of it.

"It had taken down three of our jets already, without casualties though, but Eagle...he got impatient, damn that kid was so fucking impatient," Wolf suddenly exclaimed. "He didn't listen to me, he flew in alone."

"The guy literally blew him out of the sky," Ben finished as Wolf had simply stopped, his expression hard and dark. "Nothing left but a distress call that came too late."

"All because he was too damn confident Alex." Wolf met his eye again. "When you start pulling stunts like this, I see him. I see a kid who thinks he's on top of the world without a clue that he's just waiting to come crashing down again."

Alex remained silently stunned. He'd known Eagle and Wolf had been close. And now he understood why the two men were being so critical of him.

He couldn't honestly say they weren't getting through to him. Thinking of his whole sixteen years there wasn't much to see. Sixteen wasn't much, yet he'd nearly died too often to care about counting. He figured himself lucky, but Eagle's luck had run out suddenly, why not his as well.

Still he wondered why Yassen cared so much. He took out the switchblade that he'd stuffed into his zipped up pocket earlier. Yassen had given it to him earlier that month, warning him to protect himself.

But Alex didn't understand. He studied the ivory and diamond handle of the knife, wondering where Yassen had got such a thing. The three huge stones caught the light from the subdued sun and scattered them, twinkling faintly. Then suddenly Alex remembered and all his fear returned with renewed force.

_"Don't trust anyone Alex," _his uncle's instruction screamed in his head as he hurled the knife far from him. Somehow he had been foolish enough to trust Yassen like this.

"Quickly! Go! We have to go now!" Alex screamed urgently, not sure where the trigger for the bombs were or when they'd go off.

He tried to get up to run but his leg would not support him. Wolf realized what Alex was scared of an instant later and terror registered on his face as well.

"Oh my God!"

Fox grabbed Wolf's arm and helped him to his feet. He was just hoisting Alex up when he remembered the choppers he'd seen. It wasn't unlikely that they had hijacked.

"Now, go, go, GO!"

"To the shore!" Wolf roared to the rest of men as they struggled across the mud. Two loyal men ignored him coming back to help them down just as the fierce wind of the helicopters pressed against them.

Alex actually felt himself being pushed back. The fresh memory of the explosion just minutes before drove him to find the wind with everything he had. The fire of his broken ribs seemed subdued next to his hysterical fear.

They were only about a hundred feet from the discarded knife when they heard the beginning of the first high pitched signal. But it was immediately cut short by a hot explosion that Alex knew had not come from the tiny bombs.

He was thrown tumbling backwards closer to the knife. A second later the other two choppers followed the fate of the first one.

Alex scrambled back to save himself from being crushed by the burning helicopters as they fell. He ended up on the opposite side of the wreckage than Wolf and Ben.

He turned around frantically, trying to work out why they'd exploded, but what he noticed was Yassen jogging up the hill with an angry expression and a small black object in one hand.

He stopped when he reached Alex and stared down at him furiously. After a long moment he walked over to the knife and picked it up.

"I took it away from you for this very reason Alex," he barked "But if you want it so badly, take, it." He threw it down and it sunk up to the hilt in the soft dirt between Alex's legs.

Yassen bent low to his ear. "You're lucky I was nearby to stop it aren't you?" he whispered cynically. "To save your miserable life again." Then he suddenly shoved Alex in the chest, so that he fell backwards to the ground looked stunned and confused.

"But no," Yassen continued angrily as Alex struggled to sit up again. "I came back, because I know you don't listen. You're hard headed Alex, and stupid and because of that you're not going to live long."

He straightened up. "But I have plans for you, so for now…"

He looked at Alex meaningfully for a minute before abruptly turning away and heading back down the hill.

Alex was more confused than ever but he found he was grateful to Yassen now. Somehow his words had really hit home. The fear of death was still too fresh for him to feel anything but relief.

Ben rushed over to him glancing at Yassen's retreating back

"Are you okay?"

Alex looked up at him grateful for his help as well. "Thanks." Was all he said but Ben understood what he meant.

He nodded, "Let's go home."

"Finally," Alex sighed

**The End**


End file.
